Vines the Film - Press Kit

ECO BODY HORROR
Practical FX & Stop-Motion Creature

LOGLINE
A mad botanist experiments on an unwilling human subject to give plants a fighting chance against climate change.

FESTIVAL SELECTIONS

DWF NW

Winner HorrorHaus

PFCAT

Klamath Falls Independent Film Fest

Acceptance Rate 1.8%

Dreadfest

18 FESTIVALS (and counting)

• Portland Horror Film Festival (2024) *PREMIERE*
• Seattle Film Festival (2024) *WINNER* (3x)
• Chicago Horror Film Festival (2024)
• Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation, and Technology (2024) *SILVER WIN*
• Seattle Film Summit (2024)
• Klamath Independent Film Festival (2024)
• Kinda Spoopy Festival (2024)
• Hollywood HorrorFest (2024)
• Poulsbo Film Festival (2024)
• Tacoma Film Festival (2024)
• Eastern Oregon Film Festival (2024)
• Portland Film Festival (Portland, OR) (2024)
*PFF is a 1.8% acceptance rate Festival
• HorrorHaus Film Festival (Santa Clarita, CA) (2024)
*Winner - Audience Choice Award (Opening Block)
• Dreadfest (Tacoma, WA) (2024)
• Yikes! Film Festival (Edmonton, Canada) (2024)
• Spook Screen (Cork, Ireland) (2024)
• Dances With Films NY (Manhattan, NY) 2024
• Shiver on the River (Astoria, OR) (2025)

7 AWARDS

🎖 Best Horror Short (Seattle Film Fest 2024)
🎖 Best Visual Effects (Hollywood Horrorfest)
🎖 Best Editing Short Film (Seattle Film Fest 2024)
🎖 Best Acting Duo (Seattle Film Fest 2024)
🎖 Best Eco Horror Short (Hollywood Horrorfest 2024)
🎖 Audience Choice (HorrorHaus 2024)
🎖 Silver: Best Portland Film (Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation and Technology 2024)

11 Nominations
- Best Horror Short (Chicago Horror)
- Best Short Film US (Seattle Film Festival 2024)
- Best Actor: Lowell Deo (Chicago Horror)
- Best Actor US Short Film: Lowell Deo (Seattle Film Fest 2024)
- Best Actor US Short Film: Joel Austin (Seattle Film Festival 2024)
- Best Portland Film (PFCAT 2024)
- Best Environmental Film (PFCAT 2024)

*includes wins listed above

REVIEWS & PRESS

A+
"....an essence of the same cosmically terrifying body horror filmmakers like David Cronenberg, George Romero, and Alex Garland encapsulate through their bold and deliberately discomforting aesthetics."

Andres Benatar, film critic at FilmSpeak
Full Review

“A blue ribbon short whose blend of creeping dread and blooming rot never fails to show its roots but director Luke Zwanziger and team have done a fantastic job of cultivating their own strain of cosmic horror tinged eco-terrorism worthy of the reaper. Here’s hoping this tiny seed of a film grows into a strong feature length version that will cast its dark shadow across the horror film festival circuit in years to come.

Brian James O’Connell
Director/Co-Writer of BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS
(Slamdance Opening Night Premiere, Scream Factory)”

AUDIENCE REVIEWS

"Creepy, disturbing, unsettling."
Corey Haynes, Portland Horror Film Festival (Letterboxd)
"Intense"
Seattle Film Festival Audience

ABOUT THE FILM

Vines is an eco-body horror film about a mad botanist wanting to give plants a fighting chance against human-caused climate change. Inspired by classic horror films by John Carpenter (THE THING), George Romero (CREEPSHOW), David Cronenberg (THE FLY), and modern masters like Guillermo del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH), the goal of this project was to utilize a majority of the effects practically, utilizing stop motion animation, custom prosthetics, and performers in creature suits. We blended high production value of modern cinema with the kinetic performances by having it on done on set. The limited cgi utilized was to safely accomplish stunts that could not be done practically.

The film stars Emmy award winner Lowell Deo (GRIMM [NBC], Z Nation[Syfy]) as the mad botanist Dr. Harold Madsen and Joel Austin as Rowan, a hapless gardener who is experimented upon. The actors won BEST ACTING DUO for Vines at the Seattle Film Festival 2024.

Produced by Sophya Vidal, (Netflix, Laika Studios, Refuge VFX), both working in several departments (Compositer, Set Design, Puppet Fabrication) and bringing on our creature effects from folx who worked on del Toro's Pinocchio, as well as crew that worked on Wendel and Wild (Netflix). Our score from Robinton Hobbs (Score Supervisor Cabinet of Curiosities, The Exorcist (TV), Minari, and more) Makeup Effects was designed by Claire Ameada (Crypt TV, SyFy) and many more talented collaborators. We strove to hire a diverse crew bringing on talent that is typically under-represented in film. Our total crew was 45% Female 55% male including LGBTQIA members.

Principle photography occurred over five days in 2022 at an abandoned creamery in Oregon City, OR, and Cistus Nursery an exotic plant nursery on Sauvie Island outside Portland, OR.

VINES had its world premiere at the 9th annual Portland Horror Festival June 2024. It received six nominations at the Seattle Film Festival and won three categories including Best Horror Short and Best Editing Short Film. It is currently on its festival run. See above for updated Festival Selections.

DIRECTORS STATEMENT

Vines came from a place of frustration about human's indifference to global climate change. I wondered how drastic of steps we might actually need to save our local ecosystems. The idea of a mad botanist who actually isn't wrong in his ideology took shape in this homage to pulp horror.

I couldn't be more proud of the team of film professionals from the Pacific Northwest who came together on this mad lark of an idea. I am excited by the potential of telling this story as a feature film.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Luke Zwanziger is a writer and director focusing on stories about people stuck in untenable or abnormal situations, leaning heavily into comedy and horror which he views as two sides of the same coin.

He sold his car and bought a camera in 2011 and never looked back. He has written and directed many short films. He recently directed an independent horror pilot "John Sunshine's Lost Rock 'N Roll Tapes" (2023) is currently on the festival circuit.

His feature screenplay BIOLOGICAL won HorrOrigins 2021. His scripts have placed at various competitions including PAGE, ATX, ISA Emerging Writers, FilmLabtv, NYC Midnight, and more.

He works as a freelance video editor and video professional. He has live directed over 700 multicam comedy shows including talent like Amber Ruffin, Jaime Moyer (AP BIO) and Stephnie Weir (MADtv).

When he isn't writing or filming, he is eating artisanal doughnuts and indulging in some ennui.

SCREEN GRABS

Main Poster - Green Victim

Alt Poster - Purple Dr. Madsen